Beadle's Half Dime Library, No. 237

1882 · 16 pages

This Beadle and Adams dime novel serial, "Lone Star, the Cowboy Captain; or, The Mysterious Ranchero" by Colonel Prentiss Ingraham, depicts a band of thirty Texas cowboys gathered at a bivouac near the Rio Pecos to plan cattle recovery from Mexican marauders. The narrative introduces the weathered scout "Old Bitters," a buckskin-clad hunter and Indian-fighter, and follows tensions as the group debates leadership. When cowboy Ranger Ralph and the gambling troublemaker Lucky Luke vie for captain, the gruff Bitters rejects both. A mysterious youth suddenly appears—a sixteen-year-old wearing ornate Mexican dress adorned with a golden star set with rubies and diamonds, armed with silver-mounted revolvers and rifle. The youth boldly offers himself as captain, impressing even Bitters with sharp wit, particularly when mocking Lucky Luke's failed leadership aspirations and bantering about Bitters's mule.

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